I have recently come upon the information that some other burners are also having gatherings at Red White and Blue, but these are "invitation only." This makes my blood boil due to the imperiousness shown to not only the real world, but fellow burners. I have been invited through a friend but you can be assured that I go no where that "sitting by the fire and drinking beer" is looked at as a negative, taboo practice. I'm sure this will offend someone but it needs to be said. To burn is to except, not reject. If we as a community can't get our sh*t together enough to embrace one another as burners, how will we ever find the zen within our own worlds?

melissa wrote:I have recently come upon the information that some other burners are also having gatherings at Red White and Blue, but these are "invitation only." This makes my blood boil due to the imperiousness shown to not only the real world, but fellow burners. I have been invited through a friend but you can be assured that I go no where that "sitting by the fire and drinking beer" is looked at as a negative, taboo practice. I'm sure this will offend someone but it needs to be said. To burn is to except, not reject. If we as a community can't get our sh*t together enough to embrace one another as burners, how will we ever find the zen within our own worlds?

So we shouldn't bother to have our own camp spaces, private areas, and should just give away our food and water to whomever wants it...?

melissa wrote:To burn is to except, not reject.

I thought burning was combustion of a flammable material.

Also are you sure you mean "except?"

Main Entry: exceptFunction: verbEtymology: Middle English, from Middle French excepter, from Latin exceptare, from exceptus, past participle of excipere to take out, except, from ex- + capere to take -- more at HEAVEtransitive senses : to take or leave out from a number or a whole : EXCLUDEintransitive senses : to take exception : OBJECT- ex·cep·tive /-'sep-t&v/ adjective

melissa wrote:I have recently come upon the information that some other burners are also having gatherings at Red White and Blue, but these are "invitation only." This makes my blood boil due to the imperiousness

<<SNIP>>

This makes me sad. I thought we were a "radically inclusive" group. Smacks of Starbellied Sneech-ism.

precipitate - Mar 25 2004, 2:26PM meanyheadI'm back recently partially because of the skin development. I need to be over there to figure out how to make stuff work. Been poking at newbies for sport. It's a bad habit.

Regional Events, latest post (well, before mine).
taliasen - Mar 25 2004, 3:40PM
Can see how its hard to resist....

To burn is to expect, not to reject

What the fuck is that supposed to mean?
Blenderhead - Mar 25 2004, 3:43PM
Easily amused.
she was trying to say accept
precipitate - Mar 25 2004, 3:43PM
meanyhead
> To burn is to expect, not to reject

I believe she wrote "except," meaning, of course, "accept."
taliasen - Mar 25 2004, 3:43PM
Are you sure?

precipitate - Mar 25 2004, 3:44PM
meanyhead
Seeing as how she's bitching about some other burner group having invite-only beach burns (The horror! The horror!), I'm pretty sure that's what she meant.
taliasen - Mar 25 2004, 3:46PM
Seems like she expects

regardless talking to people like that is like talking to a wall for all the fucking difference it makes......
precipitate - Mar 25 2004, 3:46PM
meanyhead
Sometimes. But it's good sport Zane5100 - Mar 25 2004, 3:52PM
kill a kitten for Christ--he's a movie star, don'tcha know?
Sometimes. But it's good sport

I'm bored, so I'm giving her a shot across the bow.
Booker - Mar 25 2004, 3:54PM
wildly inefficient
I suppose it's a sign of my general bad-personness that I'm so tempted to run over and defend this person.

Then again, anyone who mixes up except and accept can take what she has coming.
genghis - Mar 25 2004, 3:54PM
like a crisp definition?
precipitate - Mar 25 2004, 3:55PM
meanyhead
<swoon>
Booker - Mar 25 2004, 3:56PM
wildly inefficient
Yeah, but upside the head. Hard. (Suspecting that's what she got, but not interested enough to go check.)

Wow, I didn't realize how irritated people can get. Oh well, I knew I'd offend someone, everyone always does
Ya, I realized the except, accept thing after I posted it. Good thing on all my school papers I have spellcheck.

I don't think it's wrong to have your own group of friends, but all the years I've seen the man burn I've always thought that the greatest part of the community was the way that everyone was welcome. It makes me sad that the new burners (If that is the case.) don't feel as comfortable meeting new people.
What do you think Rodent?

> It makes me sad that the new burners (If that is the case.) don't feel as
> comfortable meeting new people.

Maybe you haven't provided enough detail, but I'm still confused as to the
problem here. Was this some advertised Burning Man event, invite only?
Or was it a group of people who know each other and had a beach burn?
If it's the former, I can see being annoyed. If the latter, what's the
problem?

When I first went to BM in 02 I had the impression that everything was going to be open and all inclusive. What I found on the playa didn't turn out like that and for the first two days I felt a sense that I was an outsider...especially when it came to the theme camps.

I found a way around that. I volunteered for the BRCPO, and delivery mail gave me the equivalent of an all access pass. Not that I needed one but delivering mail let me get back into the camps and meet all kinds of people. I know this kinda differs from what you were talking about but maybe you can get something out of it. You find ways to work around limitations and barriers.

Anyway the mail delivery let me find out that I wasn't that comfortable with some of the camps and with others I ended up making friends that I have to this day. I'll shut up and say "Make your own opportunities". And I apologize for drifting but the thread just brought this out.

that to me is a HUGE part of what makes BM different and what makes burners, burners. You do have a point percip, people have the right to have private gettogethers at the exclusion of others. Thats why people have backyard BBQj's and not FRONTYARD BBQ's (wich is something I am thinking of encouraging.

I've had random people wander into my beachburns and many have returned, with positive impacts. The power of sharing and accepting of others is so often uinderated.

Would you all invite Allanon3 to your barbeque? Careful, he might steal your silverware--or at least your potato salad-- when you aren't looking, and try to run over it with his Dodge Neon.

I hope a fork gets stuck in the sidewall of your tire or that you get indigestion from your purloining actions, A3.

I wonder what those who work hard to administer this board feel about someone taking text from another board and posting it on this one without the express permission of the users of that board or its administrator. I' suppose it's legal. But how do you feel about it ethically? Does it fit within the intentions and or guidlines of this board?

i understand the concern. however, there are a number of factors at stake in developing a community, and some of them involve establishing a lowest allowable denominator. the whole "i just gotta ticket" thread is all about that.

the usual response to that sort of complaint around these parts, btw, is that you're always free to have your own burns, and invite whoever you want.

For every asshole that makes it to the playa, imho there are 9 others who's behavior totally offsets or exceeds the negativity. In other words, don't let the size of BRC scare you off. There's still a lot of good people there.

I have recently come upon the information that some other burners are also having gatherings at Red White and Blue, but these are "invitation only." This makes my blood boil due to the imperiousness shown to not only the real world, but fellow burners. I have been invited through a friend but you can be assured that I go no where that "sitting by the fire and drinking beer" is looked at as a negative, taboo practice. I'm sure this will offend someone but it needs to be said. To burn is to except, not reject. If we as a community can't get our sh*t together enough to embrace one another as burners, how will we ever find the zen within our own worlds?

Words of a naive, idealistic pup if'n you ask me.

Can't figure out what the deal is here. Honestly. The beach burns - of whch there are many here in the bay area - are often by word of mouth and certain lists. One might argue that even that method of transmitting the info carries a bit of exclusivity in it and I might even be inclined to agree. But the naivete which suggests that there is (or should be) this open-door invite for a more formalized, intimate gathering in which any and all people can roll through the door and hang out just because one clips the moniker of 'burner' around their neck is totally bogus I think. I mean, it does work often enough when you have large gatherings that actively solicite such crowds. But should ALL such gatherings have such a policy? I mean, really?

A good example which occurred not long after the 2003 Burn was a gathering of folks down at Red White and Blue beach. Great crowd, good people, super weather and lots of friendly interaction among a group - even though many of them didn't know each other. The organizers who sent out the invites took it upon themselves to mix it up and invite a lot of people through recommendations and other word-of-mouths. It was great. great until the uninvited guy showed up who on his own proceeded to turn the ENTIRE vibe of the gathering into an exercise in defensiveness, evasion and ultimately confrontation. The guy was an ass. A drunk. An obnoxious irritant to every woman at the event. He was asked to leave multiple times. He was physically ejected multiple times and yet, he insisted on returning and repeating the same unsociable, unacceptable behaviors. The guy would NOT leave. In the end he pissed off one of the guys (or woman) enough that in the middle of the night he ended up getting his ass beat pretty bad. It wasn't a pretty sight but he didn't return either. The next morning there was a pall about the encampment because we collectively realized that what happened wasn't cool but none of us were surprised that it had happened.

I guess the point I'm trying to make is that like it or not there is a social structure that exists both on and off the paya. You can't avoid it. As social creatures it's fundamnetal fact that we all participate in very structured social rituals. To suggest that these entrenched (hard wired?) structures are (or should be) suspended just because you have this expectation based on your perceptions and experiences on the playa is kinda silly to this writer.

precipitate - Mar 25 2004, 2:26PM meanyhead I'm back recently partially because of the skin development. I need to be over there to figure out how to make stuff work. Been poking at newbies for sport. It's a bad habit.

A3, you didn't read the threads very well. They haven't picked ANYONE to be a moderator yet. Your stirring up stuff that doesn't need to be stirred. Let it go and find something else better to do. And besides, one thread's worth of comments is not enough to judge anyone with.

I'd like to say thank you to everyone who helped me recover from my outburst of emotion. I hope that there will always be people who really do listen and think, and I sincerely hope that Tancorix is right, because I do think that I'm hooked on fire.

I haven't done the research so I can't say for certain; but there may be strong legal reasons for saying an event is "by invite only." If somebody gets injured and tries to sue the organizer, the case for negligence could be harder to prove. Or not, as I say,I'm not sure.

-------------

One other thing. I call myself a "burner." Please don't let this 'label' drive you to make assumptions about me.